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Research Chair - Background

NSERC Research Chair:
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is the federal government agency that provides research grants to support university research activities. The Industrial Research Chair (IRC) program of NSERC, through making prestigious research chair appointments, is intended to assist universities in building on existing strengths to achieve the critical mass required for a major research endeavor in science and engineering of interest to industry; and/or assist in the development of research efforts in fields that have not yet been developed in Canadian universities but for which there is an important industrial need. Candidates for Senior Chair positions must be researchers of international stature who can bring an innovative perspective to the university in carrying out and managing research, and training researchers. They must be recognized as international leaders in their field, and must be considered to be exceptional in comparison to their research peers.

iCORE Research Chair:
Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE) was established in October 1999 by the Government of Alberta to foster an expanding community of exceptional researchers in the field of informatics, that is, areas of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, physics, mathematics and other disciplines related to information and communications technology (ICT). iCORE invests in people of the highest calibre, research scientists who work on fundamental and applied problems in informatics. It operates several grant programs to develop iCORE Chairs at Alberta universities, around which world-class research teams are developed. The iCORE Industrial Chair Establishment (ICE) program is intended to recruit outstanding researchers who have world-class research and development records demonstrating industrial relevance. Since 2010, iCore has become a branch of AITF, Alberta Innovates - Technology Future.